2015 Masters Golf Tournament Betting Preview

2015 Masters Golf Tournament Betting Preview

The 79th edition of the prestigious Masters Tournament will begin on April 9th and conclude on April 12th in Augusta, GA. Bubba Watson took home the win last year at a price of 20:1 for his second Masters victory in the last 3 years.

The table below shows the last five Masters champions and their pre-tournament consensus odds:

Year

Golfer

Pre-tourney odds

2014

Bubba Watson

+2000

2013

Adam Scott

+2800

2012

Bubba Watson

+3550

2011

Charl Schwartzel

+8000

2010

Phil Mickelson

+650

This year Rory McIlroy is playing the part of old Tiger Woods as a big favorite for a wide open field and oddly enough, Tiger is still attracting more bets to win it than Rory. The table below shows the 2015 Masters odds from offshore sportsbook 5Dimes:

Golfer

April 8

April 6

March 9

McIlroy

+555

+565

+475

Spieth

+980

+940

+1700

B Watson

+1020

+1060

+1100

Day

+1280

+1360

+1350

D. Johnson

+1455

+1495

+1550

Stenson

+1860

+1750

+2800

Scott

+1860

+1860

+1450

J Walker

+2035

+2240

+4500

Mickelson

+2340

+2110

+2800

P Reed

+3200

+3135

+4500

Fowler

+3285

+3285

+2800

Woods

+3410

+3785

N/A

Rose

+3485

+3285

+4000

Kuchar

+3785

+3285

+3500

Garcia

+3785

+3785

+4500

Snedeker

+4000

+5000

+3800

Holmes

+4500

+4500

+7500

Oosthuizen

+6000

+5000

+6500

Westwood

+6000

+5500

+5000

Casey

+6600

+7000

+7000

Matsuyama

+7500

+7000

+7000

Horschel

+8000

+8000

+8000

Palmer

+8000

+9500

+20000

Bradley

+8500

+7500

+11000

Koepka

+9500

+9000

+5000

Furyk

+9500

+10000

+8500

Dubuisson

+10000

+9500

+9500

Poulter

+10000

+10000

+11500

A Cabrera

+10000

+11000

+9000

Kaymer

+11000

+8500

+5000

Z. Johnson

+11000

+11000

+14500

Moore

+11000

+13000

+12500

Woodland

+11000

+14000

+13500

Schwartzel

+11500

+10000

+8000

Mahan

+11500

+10000

+12500

Henley

+13500

+16000

+25000

Haas

+14500

+16000

+11000

Harrington

+17500

+16500

+7500

Donaldson

+17500

+21500

+10000

Grace

+19500

+17500

+13500

Dufner

+19500

+18000

+10000

Simpson

+20000

+20000

+16500

Kirk

+20000

+23000

+16500

Blixt

+21500

+14500

+16000

McDowell

+21500

+19000

+12500

Donald

+21500

+20000

+11000

Na

+22500

+20000

+28500

Lowry

+23500

+21000

N/A

C. Hoffman

+24500

+30000

+34000

Leishman

+25500

+26000

+19500

Jimenez

+28500

+30000

+18500

Couples

+30000

+34500

+20000

Els

+31500

+9500

+23500

Stricker

+32500

+30000

+30000

Villegas

+39500

+54500

N/A

M. Hoffmann

+40000

+44500

N/A

Todd

+41500

+40000

+42000

Every

+41500

+40000

N/A

Senden

+42500

+40000

+42000

Bae

+42500

+42500

N/A

Tringale

+42500

+54500

N/A

Singh

+45000

+70000

+50000

Luiten

+47500

+50000

N/A

Willett

+48500

+46500

N/A

Ogilvy

+49500

+47500

+35000

B Martin

+53000

+70000

N/A

Bjorn

+55000

+46000

+47500

Langer

+55000

+72500

+47500

Gallacher

+56000

+50000

+38500

Stadler

+60000

+86000

+50000

Streb

+69500

+72500

N/A

Noh

+70000

N/A

N/A

Weir

+75000

+100000

+50000

Streelman

+76500

+75000

N/A

Ilonen

+85000

+58500

+50000

Harman

+90000

+90000

N/A

Immelman

+97500

+60000

+50000

Compton

+100000

+86500

+50000

Jaidee

+100000

+95000

N/A

Crane

+100000

+100000

+50000

Olazabal

+100000

+100000

+50000

G Yang

+100000

+100000

+50000

Dominguez

+100000

+100000

N/A

Mize

+100000

+100000

N/A

Hahn

+100000

+100000

N/A

Harvey

+100000

+100000

N/A

Lyle

+100000

+100000

N/A

O'Meara

+100000

+100000

N/A

Clarke

+100000

+100000

+50000

Murdica

+100000

N/A

N/A

T Watson

+100000

N/A

N/A

Lehiri

+100000

N/A

N/A

Conners

+100000

N/A

N/A

Neil

+200000

N/A

N/A

Crenshaw

+200000

N/A

N/A

Meth

+200000

N/A

N/A

Woosnam

+250000

+100000

N/A

Olesen

N/A

+13500

+21500

English

N/A

+20000

+15500

DeLaet

N/A

+20000

+17500

Manassero

N/A

+22500

+50000

Cink

N/A

+28500

+50000

Lawrie

N/A

+32000

+50000

Watney

N/A

N/A

+8500

T Clark

N/A

N/A

+50000

Colsaerts

N/A

N/A

+30000

Toms

N/A

N/A

+50000

Picks to Win:

Dan M: I’m picking Henrik Stenson (+1750) and even though he withdrew from last week’s tournament because of the flu, I’m not shying away from the Swede like everyone else. His preparations may be a little thrown off this week but lower expectations aren’t always a bad thing in golf. He has played solid everywhere this season and can handle rainy conditions which may be a factor. If he can’t notch a win, a Top-5 finish at +325 is well within reach.

Travis: I looked at four factors when determining my Masters pick this year: driving distance, par 4 scoring, par 5 scoring, and strokes gained tee-to-green. Ryan Palmer ranks 6th, 5th, 27th, and 8th respectively in those four categories. Bubba Watson and Jimmy Walker also rank highly in these categories but Palmer at +8000 gives the highest payout of the trio. At $6600, he is also a great value play for those of you entering daily fantasy contests this weekend.

PJ: I’m going with experience and consistency this week by taking Matt Kuchar, currently +3785 to win the Masters. Kuchar has made the cut in each of his last five Masters appearances, highlighted by three consecutive Top 8 finishes. While Augusta National certainly sets up well for bombers like Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Rory McIlroy, Kuchar ranks 14th in scrambling and 25th in total putting this year, two crucial skills needed to score well around these demanding greens. Based on current futures prices, I’ll let others bet on players who drive for show and grab the value with Kuchar to putt for the dough.

Prop Bets:

In addition to odds to win the tourney, there are some other props like the Winning Region of the Masters winner. Here’s how those odds look at a couple books around the market:

Sportsbook: USA -140 | Europe +210 | Rest of World +400

BetOnline: USA -110 | Europe +150 | Rest of World +350

There has been a prop bet available since the end of last season regarding the total # of majors won by either Rory McIlroy or Tiger Woods in the 2015 calender year (odds via 5Dimes):

Despite Tiger Woods’ game taking a massive drop over the last few years, he still attracts the most attention, especially at a major tournament like the Masters. On Friday afternoon once Tiger officially announced he’d be part of the field, Sportsbook and Bovada released a prop regarding the cut:

Will Tiger Woods make the cut?

Sportsbook: Opened Yes -115 | No -115 Current Yes -135 | No +115

Bovada: Opened Yes -225 | No +170 Current Yes -135 | No +105

Bovada obviously mispriced this prop at first with bettors hammering the ‘No’ for Tiger to make the cut. Since then, the market has adjusted and most sportsbooks are listing ‘No’ at slight price money.